Hi and Lois cartoonist Chance Browne has passed away.
Robert David (Chance) (Bob) Browne
June 17, 1948 – March 1, 1948
Chance Browne, the son of Dik Browne and older brother of Chris Browne, died earlier this month.
Chance Browne died [Friday] at his home at age 75 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“We grew up together….and became very close in the last 20 years; he was like a brother to me, and I have my own brothers,” said [Brian] Walker, whose father Mort Walker created the humor strip “Beetle Bailey” and co-created “Hi and Lois” with Dik Browne. “I’m really going to miss him. It’s a huge void in my life.”
Chance began an artistic career early. In his twenties he was drawing comic books for Connecticut publisher Charlton. After a few years his artistic talents took him to music.
A self-taught guitarist, Chance admits to carrying around an unstrung acoustic guitar during his early teens. At home, he listened intently to his musical heroes- blues players Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly- learning how to re-create their sounds. He formed several bands with fellow Wilton High School musicians, including now-legendary jazz guitarist John Scofield.
Browne’s musicianship was already well known in this area when his band The Twinkies was born in 1973. Obsessed fans followed the Twinkies, flocking every weekend to the Bachelors II in Redding (which was on the same soil as the Redding Roadhouse is today) or the Country Club House in Ridgefield, to dance to the Twinkie mix of rockabilly and Delta blues.
By the late 1970s Chance, while not giving up his music, settled into the life of a cartoonist.
Back to Patch:
Eventually, “living out of a van wasn’t what it once was,” said Browne, who in 1979 accepted his father’s offer to join the family business. Browne realized that having such a highly regarded father was “kind of like being Picasso’s son. Why not study with the best! He was my hero,” he said. By the early 80’s, Chance was illustrating Hi & Lois full-time.
After his father passed Chance began signing the Hi and Lois strips.
Chance continued signing his full name to the Hi and Lois Sunday strips into 2012.
Toons Mag presented a biography of Chance last year.
The Stamford Advocate notice of death ends with:
“The last day he was peaceful and that made his transition much easier. My son-in-law was playing acoustic guitar,” [Debra] said. “It was a very peaceful and beautiful sendoff.”
What does Chance Browne’s death mean for the future of some of the comic page’s most enduring strips?
The short answer is the strips will stay in the Browne and Walker family businesses, both families said.
“Our girls are all writers,” said Debra Browne, who is an editor for the “Hägar the Horrible” strip. “We plan to bring them into the family business as writers and illustrators and multimedia producers. We plan to continue with the family business.”
Chance joins Dik, Joan, and Chris in the afterlife.
Our sincere condolences to Debra and daughters, to sister Sally, and to Chance’s friends.
Sad news.
Of all the second-generation Browne/Walker family comic strups, HI AND LOIS by Chance Browne was the best. While he may not have surpassed his father’s version, it was at least as good. You never got the idea that it was a weak imitation, simply a fine continuance. I can’t think of higher praise for a comic-strip successor.